What is a Souffle?
A soufflé is a baked, puffy, flavored egg dish. Traditionally, a soufflé starts with a roux (melted butter and flour), liquid (often milk), egg yolks and flavoring (e.g., grated cheese, chopped or puréed vegetables, flaked fish, etc.). Beaten egg whites are then folded into this base, and the whole thing is baked until puffy. During baking, the air in the egg whites expands, causing it to puff up. It will stay puffed for a few minutes after removing from the oven, then it will collapse – but it’s still delicious!
What is a Souffle Dish?
An ovenproof dish designed for baking a soufflé will be round, deep, have straight sides and is typically made of porcelain.
What size is a souffle dish?
Soufflé dishes come in all sizes. Most commonly, they range from 4-ounce ramekins up to 2-quart dishes. The recipe should specify the size of soufflé dish you need to use.
What are souffle dishes made of?
The best ones are made of porcelain. Glass is also a good material for these dishes.
What can I used instead of a souffle dish?
If you don’t have a soufflé dish, you can use individual ramekins; just reduce the cook time. Other straight sided pans will work, too – like an ovenproof saucepan, or ceramic or glass casserole dish (deeper ones work better).
Souffle Collar
In many soufflé recipes, the contents rise taller than the dish they are baked in. In order to support the batter as it rises, we attach a “collar” to the top of the pan.
How to make a Collar for a Soufflé Dish
Here’s how I do it:
- Tear off a large sheet of foil long enough to wrap around soufflé dish and overlap at least 3 inches on the end.
- Fold in half lengthwise and grease one side with butter.
- Wrap foil around the side of the dish (butter side in) to make a collar around 3 to 4 inches above the top of the dish.
- Fold over overlapping ends to secure.
- If necessary, you can secure it further by tying a string around the outside of the collar, just below the top of the dish.
That’s it! So easy. Now that you know how to do it, here are a few of my favorite soufflé recipes to try:
Enjoy!
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